California Christmas, Round IV

Yeah, sunny California! We were blessed with wonderful flights and a smooth drive from LA up to the central coast. We arrived around 3 am at Erik's parents and it felt great to crawl into a bed. The kids were great travelers, sleeping for most of the flights and car rides. We were so excited to see everyone and spend some great quality time together. The last time Erik and all his siblings and families, and his parents were together for Christmas was five years ago, so this was definitely a treat. Now, anyone that knows the Ouimette's knows that there is no shortage of photos to capture the memories while we are together. After sifting through about 600 pictures (not an exaggeration!) I made a slide show marking some of the highlights while we were together.

We loved being in a warmer climate and getting a much needed break from the coldness that has gripped the Midwest this winter. The kids and I enjoyed going on daily walks and outings to the park. We also spent time together taking in all the wonderful sights and events: exploring tide pools during low tide, observing the 2 ton elephant seals giving birth on the beach, having a tea party under the eucalyptus trees filled with thousands of migrating butterflies, walking the beach looking for pretty stones and shells, watching sunset from the pier, running and jumping in the amazing sand dunes, celebrating Patty's 60th birthday with a skit filled with memories and sharing, and so much more. Our time in California was so relaxing, rejuvenating and refreshing! We so cherished this time together!

California here we come!

We were all so excited to fly out to California. We went up to the observation tower and Daddy gave the kids some lessons on plane identification...perhaps I should take a few notes too. During this trip I discovered one of the best travel items, a inflatable beach ball. It was great! We would inflate the ball, let the kids play and burn off a lot of energy kicking, throwing, catching, and chasing the ball. Then when it was time to get back on the plane, we would deflate it and tuck it back into our backpack until the next lay over, perfect!

Nelson Christmas, Round III

In the afternoon of the 23rd, we drove up to Spring Grove for the Nelson family Christmas. We had our traditional oyster stew and clam chowder dinner. We usually open gifts in the evening, but the kids were all tired and ready for bed, so we decided to wait until the following morning. And good thing we did! Soren opened up a drum and instantly fell in love. He would pound on the drum and then go and give everyone in the room hugs and say thank you, thank you, and then go pound some more and then repeat the hugging and thanking. He just minght give the little drummer boy a run for his money! We then went to church in the afternoon before Andrew and his family had to go back to Stewartville so that Andrew could sing in his church choir.

"The stockings were hung, by the chimney with care,

in hopes that Saint Nicolas would soon be here!"

Since it was Christmas Eve, Olivia put out her thank you note, cookies, milk, and carrots for Santa and his reindeer. After the kids went to bed, Erik and I prepared for our Christmas day flight to California!

When the kids woke up, they were very excited to see two full stockings full of lots of goodies. It was filled with so many great new activities for the airplane, like sticker books, DVDs, etc...that darn Santa, he is so smart, how did he know we were traveling today?

Our Family Christmas, Round II

Monday morning we woke up to celebrate our family Christmas. We made birthday waffles, complete with peppermint ice cream and a candle and sang "Happy Birthday" to baby Jesus. We then opened up a few gifts and spent the morning playing with new toys and lounging around in our pajamas. What a fun morning!

Phares Christmas, Round I

This weekend we went up to my parents' house for my mom's side Christmas party. This was suppose to be the first time in about ten years that everyone was going to be together. My cousin and her family flew in from Las Vegas, and family from Minnesota and Iowa were going to be there. Unfortunately weather put a dampener on these plans and my uncles and aunts, as well as Grandma from central Iowa weren't able to make it. We still had a fun busy household with seven kids under the age of 7 running around. Mom, as always, out did herself with amazing food. We played our usually gift exchange game and just enjoyed catching up, playing 500, and hanging out together.

Sunday School Program

This year I have had the great opportunity to teach Sunday School to the 3 year old class at our church. It has been a real joy to have Olivia in my class, it is great to know what she learns each week and to be able to talk about it throughout the week. We had a Christmas program in the late afternoon on Sunday. The group of about 60 three and four year olds sang "Away in the Manger" and "Give Me Oil In My Lamp."

Advent Nights

One of the highlights of this Christmas season were our family Advent nights. Naana sent the kids Advent presents to open each week to retell the Christmas story. The first week was Mary and an angel to represent the angel coming to tell Mary that she was pregnant with Jesus, the second week was Joseph and a donkey to represent when Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem on a donkey, etc... Erik, with the help of a friend, made a small Advent log for each week's candles. We all looked forward to lighting the candles each night, singing Christmas carols, and retelling the Christmas story. Olivia is now a real pro and remembers the Christmas story so well. Soren, on the other hand, loved all the animals in the stable and would tell us all the sounds they make. :-) Thank you Naana, the kids loved it!

Ice Cream and Christmas Lights

On Friday night, we decided to introduce a new tradition to our family. After supper we bundled up the kids and went to Moo Roo's Ice Cream Store and got 4 very delicious Candy Cane flavored ice cream cones. We then enjoyed our cones while driving around various neighborhoods admiring all the Christmas decorations while listening to Christmas songs and singing along with those most familiar to us. This will definitely be an event that will be repeated next year, and perhaps many after that. :-)

Soren was thrilled to get his own cone.

All of us with our candy cane ice cream cones!

Yummy!

Let's go look at all the lights.

As expected, Soren was a giant sticky messy. :-)

One of the many houses we stopped to ooh and ahh over...

Preschool Christmas Program

Olivia had her Christmas concert this past week. There is just something about preschool aged chrildren singing that brings a hugs smile to our faces. Erik and I were enjoying the kids' "character" on stage. There was a boy who refused to hold hands, some kids wiggling around, some acting rather stoic, and those like Olivia that were enjoying the "swishiness" of their dresses. Olivia looked so happy as she sang the words and did all the actions. Her dress had an under layer of a tulle ruffle to give the dress some volume. She enjoyed swaying back and forth and twirling her skirt for the performance. She had such a great time. The preschool teachers did an amazing job of preparing the kids and making a memorable concert.

Olivia already to go, you can see Olivia's excitement in her eyes.

Soren's ready to go and clap too.
This number included ringing bells, how fun!


Grandpa & Grandma made the trek down for the concert, we enjoyed some yummy popcorn afterwards.

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

This Christmas is our eighth Christmas as a married couple, but our first year with a full size Christmas tree. We have been blessed with the opportunity to spend Christmas in many different parts of the world. Now that we are settled into our first house, we were so excited to get all of our Christmas decorations that are making their first debut this season. We have had a great time singing Christmas carols, doing advent nights, cutting down the tree, hanging lights on our house, and filling the house with splashes of red and green and many twinkling lights. We have had a few ornaments that have had to got to the "Ornament Dr." thanks to Soren, but he is slowly learning to leave the tree alone. The kids picked out their ornaments for this year. Olivia chose a pair of ballet slippers while Soren picked a John Deere tractor. Both very fitting choices. After Soren's tractor lost its steering wheel and 2 wheels, it has now been quaratined to the top of the tree. Here are a few pictures of decorations...I will take more and post them later.

The two warmly bundled munchkins fell asleep on the way to the tree farm.

We found ours quickly...the frigid temperatures made us not too fussy. :-)
Olivia held the tree while Daddy cut it down.
Decorating the tree.